Fia could feel coldness slowly overtaking her body as her hands by her side curled into tight fists. “Don’t worry. If my grandma is alright, I’ll divorce you immediately!”Her tears rolled down as she gritted her teeth.“As for the project, my grandma had already said it. You have no right to give it to Esme.”“Fine.” Conrad averted his eyes. The woman’s expression and tears made him feel agitated. He even felt somewhat upset. He didn’t want to look at her anymore.“I’ll pay you back twice the market price.”Echo tried to hold back her coughing as she asked, “That project is worth 150 million dollars right now. Are you sure you want to do that?”“I’m a man of my word.”“Mr. Maxwell… You’re really someone who’s willing to sacrifice so much just for your love!” Fia couldn’t help but sneer before quickly moving away while supporting her mother. Eileen’s hand extended past Echo and held Fia. She could feel that her body was cold, so she kept on rubbing her arm.“Don’t worry, Fia. N
Silas stood there and then asked, “Doctor, about Madam Thea…”“Go back.” Fia stopped him. “Remember to tell Mr. Maxwell about what I told you.”“Madam, I want to stay and help.”“No need. There are doctors and nurses here,” Fia said very firmly.She was very disappointed. Her grandma had really fainted, but Conrad had suspected that she was faking it. He didn’t even come and had Silas do it instead. What was the point?After Silas walked away, Jason then asked, “You didn’t tell anyone about your pregnancy?”“Yes. But that’s not important right now. Why did my grandma fall unconscious?”Jason couldn’t bear to tell her the truth. “Your grandmother fainted because of a cerebral hemorrhage.”“Cerebral hemorrhage?” Fia had to support herself with the wall. She had heard about her grandpa from her mother… He had suddenly passed away because of a cerebral hemorrhage when he was fifty.“Your grandmother is quite healthy, and she has no other diseases. If her health was any worse, she
“Silas is not someone like that,” Conrad said as he consoled her.“I’m… I’m just very sensitive. I feel that people around me are all judging as they look.” And with that, Esme glanced at Jason who was standing not far away.Conrad frowned and said, “Then let’s go look at your grandmother together?”“Yes!” Esme nodded. “I’m worried about her as well.”Originally, when Fia thought that Conrad wanted to leave Esme behind with Silas and he wanted to visit Thea together with her, it soothed her terrible mood.But when she heard that the two of them wanted to visit her grandma together, her temper flared again.“Let me go!” Fia struggled again, wanting to pull her arm away.“What do you want exactly?!” Conrad glared at Fia with annoyance. “Can’t you just be as gentle as before?”Fia was stunned as she felt the words cutting her heart again and she struggled even harder.Jason could no longer watch as an outsider and quickly walked over.“Mr. Maxwell, this is a hospital. Please be
Fia looked at the floor and said, “Thanks, doctor.”Jason closed the water bottle and put it into his coat pocket. He then took out the packet of plums that hadn’t been opened yet.“Have some of these. It’ll make you feel better.”Fia looked at the package in his hand with disinterest. She didn’t know what to say, so she simply asked, “What’s this?”The man carefully explained, “Dried plums. Something that most pregnant women like to eat. This brand is known to be very clean so you don’t have to worry if it’s bad for your child.”With that, he tore open the package and then gave it to her.“Here, give it a try?”Fia took one. The plums were individually packaged. Jason took the small packed plum from her hand and tore it open. He then pushed it out and held it to her mouth.“Open.”Fia opened her mouth and ate the dried plum in Jason’s hand in a daze.It was so sour… So sour that it made her remember something from her childhood.She was bullied a lot by kids her age becau
“Is it nice?”“It’s sour,” Fia said as she sniffed and tried to hold back the tears in her eyes. She then forced a smile at Jason. “But it’s delicious.”As she had it in her mouth, she could even feel her stomach feeling better.“That’s good.”He then stuffed the remaining package into her hand. “If you don’t feel that well, eat one of them. You’ll feel better.”Fia nodded. These were things that her husband was supposed to do. However, he was busy taking care of his childhood lover.“How did you know that a pregnant mother will feel better after having some dried plums? Has your wife been pregnant before too?”“No.” Jason frowned and couldn’t help but say, “I’m still single. Unmarried.”Fia was stunned. She didn’t expect someone as learned, kind, and passionate as Jason to not be married yet.“What? You’re shocked that I have no partner?”“Yes. You’re one of the rare doctors. There must be plenty of people that like you.”Jason nodded and said, “Unfortunately, I like none o
“Rubbish! All men are the same!” Eileen growled in anger.Fia grabbed Eileen’s arm and kept her close. “But… I just can’t accept it. Especially when I see her in his arms.“What right does she have? What right does she have to take him back when she abandoned him three years ago? Does she think that she can have him back whenever she wants? We are the ones that are married. She has no right to ask me to give him up to her.”Eileen grabbed Fia’s arm and said, “If you can’t accept it, let me give you an idea. Don’t hide the news about your pregnancy. Instead, we have to let everyone know! Not only do the Maxwells need to know, but we also want Esme to know about it too. We want the entire Gryphon city to know about it! Let’s see if Conrad will kill his own child for his first love!”When Fia heard the word “kill”, she shuddered.“What if… He really wants me to abort my child for Esme?”Eileen instantly went silent. She knew that there was nothing more she could say, as the decision
Fia could hear the commotion inside her grandma’s ward when she arrived outside.She quickly walked in. Then, she heard her eldest aunt’s, Beth Lawson’s, sharp screech as soon as she stepped into the room.“You must be getting senile! What right do you have to give that project that Uncle Maxwell and you worked for to Fia? Isn’t it enough that she stole Esme’s rightful place as Mrs. Maxwell? Is that still not enough?!”“Please, Beth! I beg you! Mom’s health is deteriorating!”“Who do you think she’s fooling? She’s always been healthy! The only reason that she’s admitted to the hospital is because she wants to use this as an excuse to stop Fia from divorcing Conrad!”“Beth! Mom isn’t pretending!” When Echo saw that her mother was so angry that her face was turning pale, she stood up with difficulty to pull at Beth’s arm.“Don’t touch me! It’s all thanks to you that our family’s reputation is destroyed! Your daughter and you are birds of a feather!”Beth pushed Echo away and advan
During the yearly family gatherings, her Aunt Beth would always say how good her husband was in front of her and her mother. She would say how well their company was doing and expanding.Saying that she had a good life even without depending on the Lawsons, unlike them who were being supported by Thea.She never thought that they were actually depending on her uncles’ goodwill!Her three uncles did very well in Gryphon. They all had their own companies and cared a lot about family.Every year, her uncles would shower her with gifts even after she was married.Of course, so did Esme.During the three years that Esme was overseas, her uncles would directly transfer money to Esme’s bank account instead of giving gifts.Her uncles treated her and Esme the same. They had never treated one better than the other.“And now, not only are you not grateful that you used our family to transform a little hoodlum like Hank into an entrepreneur, but you’ve also even set your eyes on destroyin